Dufay (crater) explained

Coordinates:	5.5°N 169.5°W
Diameter:	39 km
Depth:	Unknown
Colong:	191
Eponym:	Jean Dufay

Dufay is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It lies about one crater diameter to the east of the large walled plain Mandel'shtam.To the northwest is the crater Papaleksi and to the east is Valier.

The rim of this crater is heavily worn by impacts, and several small craterlets lie along the southern edge. The inner wall is somewhat wider on the western side when compared to the east and southeast. The interior floor is relatively level and featureless.

Albedo Anomaly

To the northeast of Dufay is a bright albedo anomaly that does not correlate with any topographic features. The lunar surface at the anomaly is not atypical under low sun angles.^[1] The albedo anomaly is associated with an enhancement in Thorium.^[2]

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Dufay.

Dufay	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	9.5° N	170.5° E	15 km
B	8.5° N	171.0° E	20 km
D	6.3° N	170.5° E	32 km
X	7.2° N	168.5° E	42 km
Y	8.3° N	168.4° E	16 km

References

• Book: Andersson . L. E. . Whitaker . E. A. . Ewen Whitaker . 1982 . NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature . NASA RP-1097 .
• Web site: Blue . Jennifer . July 25, 2007 . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature . . 2007-08-05 .
• Book: Bussey . B. . Ben Bussey . Spudis . P. . Paul Spudis . 2004 . The Clementine Atlas of the Moon . . New York . 978-0-521-81528-4 .
• Book: Cocks . Elijah E. . Cocks . Josiah C. . 1995 . Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature . Tudor Publishers . 978-0-936389-27-1 .
• Web site: McDowell . Jonathan . July 15, 2007 . Lunar Nomenclature . . 2007-10-24 .
• Menzel. D. H.. Minnaert. M.. Levin. B.. Dollfus. A.. Bell. B.. Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU. 10.1007/BF00171763. Space Science Reviews. 12. 2. 136–186. 1971. 1971SSRv...12..136M. 122125855.
• Book: Moore , Patrick . Patrick Moore . 2001 . On the Moon . . 978-0-304-35469-6 .
• Book: Price , Fred W. . 1988 . The Moon Observer's Handbook . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-33500-3 .
• Book: Rükl , Antonín . Antonín Rükl . 1990 . Atlas of the Moon . . 978-0-913135-17-4 .
• Book: Webb , Rev. T. W. . Thomas William Webb . 1962 . Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes . 6th revised . Dover . 978-0-486-20917-3 .
• Book: Whitaker , Ewen A. . Ewen Whitaker . 1999 . Mapping and Naming the Moon . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-62248-6 .
• Book: Wlasuk , Peter T. . 2000 . Observing the Moon . Springer . 978-1-85233-193-1 .

Notes and References

1. http://wms.ser.asu.edu/lroc/view_rdr/NAC_ROI_DUFAYALBLOA Dufay Albedo Anomaly low-Sun controlled NAC mosaic
2. N. E. Petro. Association Between Small Thorium Enhancements, Silicic Volcanism, and Enhanced OH/H₂O as Measured by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper. Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, 2014. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/contribution_docs/LPI-001820.pdf